The Demon Down the Hall
by MikeJaffa
Summary: Prequel to New Mutants: Dead Souls: Rahne and Illyana meet again. Femslash. Rated M for sex, violence, language, to be on the safe side.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: The Demon Down the Hall

AUTHOR: MikeJaffa

SYNOPSIS: Prequel to New Mutants: Dead Souls: Rahne and Illyana meet again.

DISCLAIMER: Marvel owns Magik and Wolfsbane. I am making no money of this fic.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: (1) I haven't read the X-books in years, so I haven't kept up. I've tried to fill in the gaps with Wikipedia and Comixology. But if I have something wrong, please take it easy on me. (2) I have never been to West Virginia either. Apologies to any WV natives who read this. (3) In the original New Mutants series, Rahne made her distrust of Illyana plain. But in Dead Souls #2, Rahne shrugs off any concerns about her. How do you make a 180-degree change like that? This is my take on that. I could be wrong, but I still thought I would throw this out there. Canon will catch up to it soon enough. In any case, Enjoy.

8

8

8

8

 _"_ _Don't be afraid  
I've taken my beating  
I've shared what I made  
I'm strong on the surface  
Not all the way through  
I've never been perfect  
but neither have you  
So if you're asking me I want you to know…"_

-Linkin Park, "Leave Out All the Rest"

"What a load of bollocks!" The twenty-something young woman with short red hair stood next to the books shelf, staring aghast at the paperback in her hands. She was the only customer in the occult book store in the middle of a small West Virginia town. She spoke with a Scottish accent. "Who the hell wrote this garbage?" she went on. "Good grief—"

"Is there a problem?" A thirty-something woman with dark hair drawn in a pony tail, granny glasses on her nose, came over. "Can I help you miss, uh….?"

"What?" Rahne asked. "Oh, uh, Rahne, Rahne Sinclair."

"That name sounds familiar. Lilith Jones," the woman said, extending her hand, "owner of Lilith's Mystic Emporium. So what's the problem?"

"Oh, I was just thumbing through this book. And—I'm not a witch, understand, but I know that this thing is wrong." Rahne pointed at the page she was reading. "See? That diagram is backwards. And the caption is completely wrong."

Lilith took the book. "You're right! How did you know if you don't practice the craft yourself?"

"Oh, I used to know someone who did."

"What's this person's name? I may recognize it."

"Illyana. Illyana Rasputin."

"The darkchilde!?" Lilith sputtered. "You're *that* Rahne Sinclair? The one who—oh, shit—" Lilith's head rippled and became a goat's head, but still with the granny glasses.

"Bloody hell!" Rhane stumbled back, her body shifting from human to wolf with every step (grateful she'd managed to get clothes made of unstable molecules). In full wolf form she ran full speed for the door. But the next thing she knew, a red-skinned demon with a large gut was in her path. A shock went through her body and everything went black.

8

8

Rahne came to on a couch. She was lying in a small apartment. Lilith, her head once again human, stood over her. A large man who had the same face as the demon stood behind her.

Rahne jerked, but Lilith said in a soothing voice, "It's all right, sweetie, it's all right. We're not going to hurt you. I didn't mean to scare you. I got a little flustered when I realized who you were, and my glamour fell apart. You took a nasty bump on the head when you ran into Satan's ward. I cast a healing spell, but just to be safe, you shouldn't shape sift for about twenty minutes. Keep your skull in the same shape." She helped Rahne sit up.

"Sorry about that," the man said. (Rahne thought he sounded like John Goodman.) "We've had a real problem with some animal spir-"

"Hang on a second," Rahne said. "You said your names were Lilith and Satan?"

"Yes," Lilith said, "but not *that* Lilith and Satan. Not the ones you're thinking of. Those are actually common names among demons, like George and Mary. We're just a couple of low level demons who have decided to settle in this little town."

"And make hell on Earth?" Rahne prompted.

"Why would we do that?" Lilith asked. "We came here to get away from the demonic rat race. Why recreate it? Oh, we diddle some of the local players—and there is a coven here, believe it or not, but we haven't kept touch, and they've been less active since a couple of their members were murdered. But anyway, this is our home now. We don't want to mess it up. Would you?"

"Besides," Satan said, "hurting you would be he stupidest thing we could do."

"Yes," Lilith affirmed, "everyone knows how protective the darkchilde is of her human familiars. Hurting you would be suicidal! I imagine if you're here, she must not be far behind."

"I wouldn't know," Rahne said. "I haven't spoken to her since she's been…back." And in truth, all Rahne knew about Illyana's return was from one barely coherent phone call Sam had made (she and Dani were still not on speaking terms). Since then, nothing. "And I'm not her familiar, either."

Lilith said, "Well, friend, familiar, to the demonic mind, they're kind of the same thing. It's all about not being alone, having an emotional connection."

"Then you're in no danger, Lilith, because Illyana and I never had any connection. We were on the same team; she had a room down the hall from me, and always beat me to the shower. That was it."

"Oh, that's too bad, Rahne. The relationship between a sorceress and her familiar—especially one who kind of sort of is an animal spirit—is really a special and beautiful thing. It's too bad you never experienced that. But if Illyana isn't here, what are you doing here?"

Rahne shrugged. If these two were behind it, this was the sure way to draw them out. "This county has had two mass shootings this month, and your Reverend Greer has been all over the tele talking about how you've had a spike in suicides, domestic violence, meth addiction—two meth labs taken down this week. It didn't seem natural. I thought there might be something maybe super heroic behind it. Would you have any ideas?"

Lilith bristled a little. "It's not us, dear. And Douglas Greer has been trying to run us out of town ever since he took over his church. You can't believe everything he tells you."

"Actually, I haven't spoken to him. I walked into your shop by accident."

Lilith smiled. "Of course. I'm sorry, Rahne. I shouldn't have been so defensive."

Rahne thought it over. They were demons, true, but they had played straight with her so far. Best to play this out. And it wasn't like she hadn't dealt with an (apparently) friendly demoness before. "Apology accepted. Still, Lilith, do you have any ideas?"

Lilith thought it over. "Well, Rahne, there is one thing that might do it…but by the same token, it might not be."

"What is it?"

"It's called the Wings of Needless Sorrow. Last I heard, Doctor Strange had it under lock and key. But it could have got loose after the Empirikul trashed everything."

"The who?" Rahne asked.

"The Empir-" Lilith said, "oh, that's right, you haven't spoken to Magik. Anyway, the Wings of Needless Sorrow is a talisman of an ancient power."

"Real ancient," Satan put in, "before humans and gods ancient. Literally older than dirt."

"And dangerous to demons as well as humans," Lilith went on. "It…nudges people into giving into their despair or depression, or generally being self-destructive. Negative emotions amplified, basically. Now that may not sound like much but think about 100 people locking themselves in a barn and burning it down. Now imagine the emotional energy the community's grief would cause. The Wings feeds on that. For lack of a better term, it's a mystical nuke that refuels itself when it explodes."

"But that's the problem," Satan put in, "because left to its own devices, it goes big. And nothing big has happened."

"Left to its own devices," Rahne said. "Could someone be wielding it? Holding it back?"

"If someone is," Lilith said, "that would have to be a powerful mage. But there's no one like that around here, present company included."

"But you think that's it then, Lilith?"

"I said it could be, Rahne, and you wouldn't want to take on its wielder on your own if it is. But I think it's highly unlikely. There are a hundred other non-magical causes, including just coincidence. I'm sorry I couldn't help more. In any case, do you have a place to stay?"

"I wasn't planning on staying."

"Nonsense! I won't hear of it. We have a spare room upstairs. You can stay for as long as you like, at no charge. It's the least we could do considering how much we've inconvenienced you."


	2. Chapter 2

The room was in a finished attic, with a twin-size bed, table, and TV on the wall.

Lilith indicated the book shelf. "Grimoires. I know you're not inclined to read them, but all the same-"

"Don't touch," Rahne said.

"Right. Well, if you don't need anything, I'll leave you to get settled." She turned to leave.

"Oh, Lilith, one thing. What are those emperorkuls you mentioned?"

Lilith paused in the door. "The Empirikul? I really shouldn't…but…" She took a step back into the room. "You've heard of the Salem witch trials? Every so often someone comes along and tries to kill the magic."

"How is that possible? I thought magic was a force, like the wind or electricity."

Lilith smiled. "Very good, Rahne! You did learn something from the darkchilde. Well, no, no one can kill electricity. But if you kill all the electrical engineers and blow up the generators, the world is a dark place pretty quickly."

"So someone went after wit—magic users?"

"Yes, and they did a lot of damage. The Empirikul were Salem times a million. They went on a rampage across the multiverse. There are who knows how many spells that no longer work because the entities they call on are dead. Really! Then they went after the users. As far as we know, Earth and Limbo are the only two realms with Sorcerer Supremes. All the rest are dead. Doctor Strange, the darkchilde, and a few others stopped them, but it was a close call. In fact, way I heard it, Illyana was almost burned at the stake. And by 'almost' I mean they'd lit the fire and she started screaming."

Rahne was aghast. Even though she had never been close with Illyana, she was shocked that her old teammate had almost been killed. "Is she all right?"

"You'd be in a better position than me to know, sweetheart. Anything else?"

"No."

"Right then. We're early risers but you can come down for breakfast any time."

8

8

Rahne rode her motorbike to the local watering hole. It was exactly the kind of place she would expect from a movie about a small West Virginia town. Rahne got a beer and did her best to pay attention to snippets of conversation. Eventually she decided to play some pool.

She had just run the table when a man's voice whispered in her ear, "It's cheating use enhanced senses."

Rahne couldn't not smile. "My senses are very close to normal in human form." She turned to face the speaker. He was about her age, a head taller with brown eyes. He seemed to be muscular without any body fat. "Does everyone know I'm here?"

"Well, Lilith and Satan wouldn't take in an ordinary border, and I was wondering if a super hero type might start poking around. But I can't complain." He extended his hand. "Reverend Douglas Greer. It's a pleasure to meet you, Wolverine. I've always been a fan."

Rahne winced. "Wolfsbane, not Wolverine. He's a bit uglier than I am."

"Oh, sorry! I am terrible with names. Well, then, let's start over. It's a pleasure to meet you, Wolfsbane. I've always been a fan."

Rahne shook his hand. "I'm not exactly what you would call A-list. How long have you been a fan?"

"How long have you been in this bar?"

Rahne released his hand. She couldn't not smile. "You're quite the charmer for a man of God."

"I am a man, Wolfsbane-"

"Please, call me Rahne."

"I see. Trying to remain under cover."

"Actually, sometimes code names sound stupid. We almost never used them on the old team."

"I see. All right. Rahne. You can call me Doug. But as I was saying, I am a man, with a fondness for both redheads and wolves. Luckily, a twofer just happened to walk in the door. Please." He gestured to a nearby table.

After they sat, Greer asked, "How goes the investigation?"

"It's not much of an investigation," Rahne said. "It's not much of anything. I'm…well, sometimes I think we have fights to distract us from the soap operas we call our lives. Having to save the world is a good way to avoid an awkward question."

"I suppose, though if I may so, the rest of us would hope you could find another way. No offense."

"None taken. Anyway, I'm kind of between situations at the moment. I decided to look into this on a lark. But even if I found what I'm looking for, what do I do about it? We're talking either telepathy or black magic, and I'm neither a telepath nor a sorceress. So unless the bad guy can be stopped by me biting his leg, we're out of luck."

"You do know that Satan and Lilith are, in fact, demons."

"Aye. But how do you know?"

Greer closed his eyes and made a fist. He opened his palm and silver flames appeared on his fingertips. Then they vanished.

Rahne's eyes widened. "That was magic fire. I recognize it from when Magik cast spells. How did you do that?"

"I had a very interesting aunt whose own daughters wouldn't follow her into the 'old religion.' She taught me some things." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "But I haven't done anything like that in years, and I am paying for it. Worst ice cream headache ever." He sipped his beer. "Beer helps. Better than aspirin. Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that to Lilith and Satan. They don't know I know magic, and I want to keep it that way."

"Mum's the word." Rahne looked warily at the other bar patrons. "How much magical goings on are there around here?"

"More than you would expect but less than you think," Greer said. "But enough to make it hard to warn people about the Joneses. Some of our town fathers are in the local coven and protect them. The rest just listen to my sermons, nod, and don't believe a word of it. Demons? For real? Besides, they're such good people."

"Aye," Rahne agreed, "I know what you mean."

"Growing up with…her."

Rahne nodded. "Everyone else was won over sooner or later, but I wasn't. I couldn't. She's evil. She said so herself. And it's there in the Bible, isn't it? I could never trust her. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her to show her true nature." She sipped her beer. "I was always thinking, 'Why did she have to move to our side of the house? So what if she's Colossus' little sister? Why does that demon have to be down the hall from me? She's evil! She's ruining everything. The…'" Rahne drew in a raggedy breath. "'The world would be a better place without her in it.'"

"No one would blame you Rahne. The Lord understands."

"I know, Doug, but then one day-" She broke off, then went on. "I've never told anyone this. I mean, we all knew what happened, but…not why it happened. Why I did what I did."

"Your secret is safe with me. What happened?"

"One day, I had the chance to get rid of her, and I took it."

"What do you mean?"

"We later called it Inferno. All hell breaking loose on a lot of fronts, literally. The gates to Limbo—that's where Illyana was raised by a sorcerer—were frozen open and demons were coming to Earth. Illyana decided the only way to stop it was to accept her destiny as the darkchilde and become Limbo's ruler full time."

"I don't see how you're to blame for that."

"It wasn't that," Rahne said. "It was what I did about it when she said she would do it. Limbo's a funny place. Time and space are all scrambled. We'd stumbled on Illyana when she was six years old, before she had learned any magic. I persuaded Magik to let us save her younger self. It cancelled her out existence. All the demons got sucked back into Limbo and the gates were slammed shut." Rahne sipped her beer. "We were a team, all for one and one for all, never leave our own behind, all that, and yet I talked one of our own into killing herself. She died because of me. All for nothing. A year later, that little girl died of the Legacy virus."

"But she died free from evil. You saved her soul. No one would ever say you did anything wrong."

"Of course not! Because I'm that sweet little girl from Scotland who was unlucky enough to turn into a wolf and almost get burned at the stake by the good men of her town. I would never harm a flea. Not like that witch. Not like that demon down the hall from me." Tears started streaming down her cheeks. "Only that demon was always there for us, from the very beginning right to the end. She never hesitated to leap into action when one of us was in trouble, sometimes leaping for she looked. She sacrificed herself to save the world. And I talked her into doing it to get rid of my nemesis. And you know what? The world wasn't much different without her. In fact, it was kind of duller. I actually miss Limbo now and again." Rahne sipped her beer, then wiped her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't burden you with my problems."

"No, it's no problem. Part of the job description."

"I guess every once in a while, I go over it in my mind. Did I really do the right thing? Was it really for the right reason? If I had malice in my heart, was it really the right thing to do? But she's back, so I guess it's ok."

"Except you still suffered a loss. That little girl wasn't the person you had known. She was gone. Magik was gone. It's only natural to second guess yourself. But maybe you did all you could do. She was the sorceress, in other words, the expert in that field. If there had been another way, don't you think she would have found it herself? The only way to save her was to know what she knew and you didn't. All you could control were your actions. The rest was God's will."

"I suppose."


	3. Chapter 3

Rahne spent another couple of hours talking with Greer before calling it a night and returning to her room above Lilith's shop. She had trouble sleeping. Memories of the old days in the New Mutants, and the last battle during the Inferno incident, kept intruding. She kept going over it in her mind. Had she done the right thing? And what would Illyana say now if they met? Why was that bothering her? They had never been close, so why was she agonizing over the fate of someone she had barely given the time of day?

Rahne spent the next morning poking around town. But she had no idea what she was looking for. And if she found it, what was she supposed to do? It looked more and more as if this had been a bad idea.

After lunch she told Lilith she would leave that evening. "I really can't do much else," she said. "If something big does happen, you'll have the Avengers crawling all over it. I had best be on my way."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, dear," Lilith said. "Do you want me to tell Magik you were here if she turns up?"

"Sure."

Lilith insisted on making a snack for Rahne and giving her a route to take. "It's a nicer drive than the interstate," she said, "and I put a list of places you could stay along the way."

"Thanks. What's the sandwich?"

"Deviled ham."

Rahne winced. "Ooh."

"I know. I couldn't resist. Seriously, it's chicken."

The sun was setting as she left town. The road was a two-lane road with hardly any traffic, through the woods.

"What are you thinking, girl?" Rahne grumbled to herself. "Letting that demon tell you where to go? A lonely road in the middle of nowhere? Perfect place for something to happen. Something like…" She spotted what looked like a big bird in her rear-view mirror, a large black shape that had no distinct features but seemed solid and real. "…that."

The bird thing swooped at her. Rahne ducked and skidded the bike to the side of the road. As she got off, the bird thing began turn around and come back.

Rahne shifted to half human from. "Want a piece of me? Come on!"

The thing swooped at her. Rahne leapt, slashing with her claws. But not only did her claws pass through it, it left a chill feeling that cut to her to the bone.

Rhane landed and watched it turn for another pass. "Bad idea," she said to herself.

Beams shot out of where the thing's eyes would be and sparked the road near her.

"Very bad idea," Rahne said. "Time for emergency procedure one—run!"

She shifted to full wolf and took off at top speed, leaping and dodging to avoid its swoops and periodic eye blasts. Even though she heard and smelled the water before a human would, she was so consumed by the pursuit that she barely avoided going over the waterfall into the river gorge at the last second. She backed up, wheeled around, and looked for the wing thing. There was no sign of it. She turned back to gorge just in time to see it swoop at her moments before it ran into her. Rahne collapsed with a yelp.

She came to in human form, sore all over, tired, with a terrible black feeling inside her. And with the feeling came more thoughts: not only had this trip been a bad idea, but it was the latest in a string of bad ideas. How ironic that after all the time of suspecting Magik of being up to no good, it was Rahne who had done the most damage to the people around her. Magik had got off easy; she had just ceased to exist at Rahne's prodding. Everyone else had been hurt, driven away. She had once called Dani her dearest friend, and now they barely spoke. She pushed people away until she had been left with nothing, no one…

…and no one would care if something happened to her. Oh, Rahne, what ever happened to her? She went missing, fell off a waterfall, wasn't that it? What was her power anyway?

Tears ran down Rahne's cheeks. She now saw she was and always had been useless, a waste of space. It would be better this way. Everyone would be better off.

"Dani, Sam, Mara, Shan," she said, "'Berto, even you, Illyana. I'm sorry for everything. Goodbye."

She took a step forward, but hand grabbed her collar from behind. A voice she hadn't heard in years growled, "Not yet, Fuzzy Butt, not on my watch." Rahne was thrown to the ground. She had enough time to realize she was looking up at Illyana when Illyana's soulsword blazed into existence in Illyana's hand, armor appearing on her left arm and right leg as always. Illyana flipped the sword to aim it down at Rhane's chest, grabbed the hilt with both hands, and it plunged it into Rhane's heart.

Rhane's back arched as she could feel cold silver fire spread through her. Shadows sprang out of her and congealed into the bird thing.

Illyana yanked the sword out of Rhane's chest. "Get out of here!" she shouted.

Rhane got up, realizing there was no hole in her chest—even though Sam had said the soulsword could now cut through steel, Illyana had used the sword to just exorcise the… the… Rahne shifted to half wolf form and said, "That's the Wings of Needless Sorrow, is it?"

Illyana deflected an eye blast with her sword and armor. "Yes! An avatar of it, anyway. And you're no match for it. Get going. I'll hold it off."

"Illyana-"

"I'm not her. You owe me nothing. Go!"

Rahne hesitated. That was what Sam had said, that this Illyana wasn't the original, more like a copy. She wanted to run.

But she looked and smelled like the Magik she had known. And the New Mutants never left their own behind.

But Illyana was right: what could she do against the Wings of Needless Sorrow?

…Needless Sorrow…

Illyana was so preoccupied fighting the wings that she didn't pay attention when Rahne started laughing. But she noticed when the Wings shuddered and wavered. She charged in and slashed as hard as she could. The wings split in half and disappeared.

Illyana's weapons vanished. She turned to Rahne and said, "You gambled it couldn't stomach positive emotions. Not a bad idea, but not enough to stop it on your own. File that for future reference." She paused. "By the way…what so hilarious?"

"Oh," Rahne said as she assumed human form again. "I was thinking about that slumber party we had, and how Sam didn't recognize me after you and some of the other girls did my makeup? I always teased him after that: 'Sam, I'm going to put on some chap stick. I hope you can recognize me.' Well, I just thought, what if I wore a wig that was just like your hair—me with your blonde bangs? How much would that screw him up?" She chuckled.

Illyana smiled a little. "And both of us talking with Russian accents."

Rahne laughed. "Yes! Imagine the look on his face." She calmed down. "So, what are you doing here?" She didn't know if she dreaded or hoped Illyanna would say something like, 'I was looking after you.'

"Shan wants to put together her own X-team," Illyana explained. "She wants it to investigate paranormal phenomena. She tapped me to lead it."

"Really? You, team, leader?" Rahne couldn't stop herself from feeling proud. "That's quite an endorsement. I would have thought she would have called Sam or Dani."

"She did. Both were unavailable."

"Oh. Open mouth, insert foot. Who else is on it?"

"No one, yet. She wants to see how I do in the field and whether I can get the job done without any carnage…at least not on the mortal plane. We thought this town would be a good test—a possibility but not a likely one. I looked around and overheard people saying how Wolverine had just left town. I went to Limbo and did a scrying to look for him and I found you being ensorcelled by the Wings of Needless Sorrow instead."

"Some of the locals got my name wrong."

"Oh. What are you doing here?"

"Had nothing to do and decided to poke around."

"You must have got close to something if someone used the Wings to try to kill you."

"Aye, and I know exactly who's behind it: those two demons."

"What two demons?"

"In the town at the book store."

"What book store?"

"Lilith's Mystic Emporium, Corner of Main and Elm. I wandered in—one of the books they sell is a load of crap, by the way—and they introduced themselves. They had a lot of questions about you."

"I see. I know the shop you're talking about, and I walked by it, but I didn't feel anything. They must be masking their power."

"So are we discing after them now?"

"'We'?"

"They tried to kill me, Illyana. I have a score to settle."

"I suppose there's no talking you out of it, Rahne."

"No, and no discing away either. I'll go after them anyway."

"Well, you're in luck, because that fight left me exhausted. I'm not in any shape to summon a stepping disc right now. We'll use your bike—BUT—you follow my instructions to the letter. The power levels we're dealing with, that's our best chance of getting out alive."

"Will we kick their asses?"

"Stomp them."

"In that case, I'll fight them naked and smeared with peanut butter if that's what you want."

Illyana arched her eyebrows. "Let's go."

Rahne followed Illyana back towards the bike.

Rahne said, "I was kidding about the naked and smeared with peanut butter thing by the way."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that."

8

8

They didn't speak as they rode back to town, Illyana riding behind Rahne. The sun had gone down as they turned onto the main drag and saw light down the street. Rahne asked, "What the heck is going on?"

"Isn't that where you said the shop was?"

"Aye."

They pulled up to a line of emergency vehicles, fire trucks and an ambulance. Smoke and flames poured out of the building's windows as fire fighters struggled to put the fire out.

Rahne said, "Tell me wasn't started by…" She noted the other bystanders and coughed. "You know."

"Oh…" Cough. "…in spades," Illyana said. "And…I'm pretty sure your friends are deceased. My guess is a domestic dispute gone apocalyptic."

"Induced by You Know What. Great. So what now?"

"You have the local knowledge. You tell me."

"You're trying out for team leader. You need a strategy."

"You would have to remember that."


	4. Chapter 4

"So let's recap," Xi'an Coy Manh's voice came over the speaker on Illyana's cell phone as Illyana and Rahne sat and ate in a diner. (Illyana had cast a spell that she'd said would ensure people around them didn't pay attention to them.) "There is an artifact involved, and it would take an extremely powerful operator to use it. But your prime suspects have literally gone up in smoke, and you don't have any other leads at the moment."

"Yes," Illyana said. "But on the plus side we've learned what the artifact is and whoever our opponent is, that individual is trying to hide something. I have a hunch whoever's doing this is new, so drawing this person out should be relatively simple."

"I see. What's your next move?"

"We're going to see if we can learn about the local talent. See if they know anything."

"'We'?"

Illyana winced. "Oh. Right. I forgot to mention…" She trailed off.

Rahne piped up, "Hi, Shan."

"Rahne!?" Shan replied. "It's good to hear your voice again but…Illyana? I thought we agreed, no subcontractors."

"Rahne was already conducting her own investigation," Illyana said. "She's given us what leads we do have. It makes sense to pool our resources."

"I see," Shan said. "An accidental team-up. Well…you do have to expect the unexpected in this business. All right. Keep me apprised. Rahne, when this is all over, we have to catch up."

8

8

They agreed the bar was a good place to start and Rahne drove them there. After the bar tender had handed them beers and they had turned away from the bar, Rahne said, "Anything?"

"Nothing's standing out," Illyana said. "'Background noise,' mostly."

"But there has to be something!" Rahne said as they took seats at an unoccupied table. "Could he have 'gone quiet'? Some kind of magical 'silent running'?"

"Sure."

"Then it's a waiting game, then."

"Which requires patience."

"And you don't do patience very well."

"That, at least, hasn't changed."

"Then let's just hope the bad guy does it worse than you."

"What I'm counting on."

"And you said you didn't have a strategy."

"I didn't say that. I just said you would remember that."

"Ah." Rahne sipped her beer. All the old discomfort around Illyana was still there…but also the memory of where that had lead. They'd never been close…but who had been responsible for that?

Rahne said, "How's S'Ym?"

The question surprised Illyana. "S'Ym?"

"Yeah, big guy, horn, betrayed you."

"Oh, everything's ok. He and N'astirh are my lieutenants now."

"Do they still have the transmode virus?"

"No."

"How'd that happen?"

"I don't know, Rahne. Every time I think of asking-"

"Something happens," Rahne finished.

Illyana looked at the table in front of her. "Rahne, I know I've never been your favorite person. I'm probably still not. I understand why, and I respect it. But…" Her eyes met Rahne's. "…I'm still glad we found each other again."

Rahne felt a little uncomfortable. It was a more intimate turn of phrase than she thought appropriate. Then again, maybe Illyana just wanted the old days back. Who could blame her?

"Illyana…um, there's something…well, in all the excitement, we haven't had a chance to, uh, talk about…"

"Am I interrupting?" Doug Greer was standing at the table, beer in hand.

Rahne sprang to her feet. "Oh, no Doug!" She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. "Will you join us?"

They sat. Doug pointed at Illyana. "I don't want to get this wrong, because I know your team had two blondes on it and a lot of code names beginning with 'M.'"

Rahne said, "Doug, this is Illyana Rasputin, aka Magik. With a 'k.' Don't ask me why. And Illyana, this is Reverend Douglas Greer, who…"

"…is a warlock," Illyana said. "I never thought of that, hiding out in the 'opposing camp.' What do you think, Rahne? Think I would make a good nun?"

"Oh, hell no. And you'd hate every minute of it."

"You're probably right."

Doug said, "You've heard about the Joneses, right?"

The women nodded.

"I guess that must be it for the investigation," he said.

Rahne said, "Not necessarily. We think someone else is using the Wings of Needless Sorrow."

"Whoo!" Doug said. "That is one heavy lift. You think someone used it against the Jonese?"

"Aye."

Illyana said, "We were hoping to talk to any of the local talent, see if they know anything. Can you help us?"

Doug considered. "Well, being a priest, that's not popular with the local, uh, alternate faith community. But some people are still talking to me. And you, Illyana, would definitely be a celebrity. I might be able to arrange a meet…if you can stand being surrounded by fanboys."

Illyana took a deep breath. "I'll manage."

Rahne grinned. "There you go, Luv. Take one for the team."

"Team?" Doug said.

"Yeah," Rahne said. "Our first team-up. We're so proud, aren't we?"

8

8

Doug went over to talk to some men, and Illyana and Rahne lost track of him. So they played darts and a couple of games of pool. Then Rahne got a text message: Doug had left the bar and was setting up a meeting. Rahne checked the time. It was almost 11. "How much longer is this going to take?" she asked Illyana.

"I'm afraid 'black magic' and 'reliability' don't always belong in the same sentence," Illyana said. "Are you tired? Shan spotted me a hotel room. You can use it if you want."

"No, I'll…" Rahne yawned. "…see this through."

"We'll both go."

Out in the parking lot, it became clear both women were a little drunk.

"How are we going to get there?" Rahne asked. "I don't think I'm in any shape to drive. Can you disc us?"

"Sure. What's the worst that can happen?"

"You have to ask?"

They stood by the bike. Light flashed under them and they were in a desert in Limbo. Another flash and they were in the hotel parking lot.

Illyana checked her phone. "What do you know? Right place and right time."

"Did we just see S'Ym sunning himself?"

"I know, not a pretty picture."

"But where did he get the sunscreen?"

"The infernal realms do try to move with the times."

Rahne chuckled. "He looked ridiculous. I mean, flowered shorts?"

Illyana smiled. "We finally agree on something."

In the room, Rahne noticed there was one and only one king size bed. "Uh…"

"You can have the bed," Illyana said.

"Sure?"

"I don't need as much sleep as you do."

Rahne stripped to her underwear. She got under the covers and turned out the lights.

But sleep eluded her. She finally looked over her shoulder. Even with the curtains closed, her night vision was much better than a human's, and she could see Illyana sitting in the chair.

Rahne turned on the light next to the bed and sat up. "All right. Get over here."

"What?"

"If you don't get any ideas, I'll let you get into bed with me."

"I told you, I don't need sleep."

"You don't need a crick in your back either, and I'd be a lousy familiar if I allowed that to happen to my witch, wouldn't I? So get your ass in this bed while I'm still drunk enough to go through with it."

"Yes, ma'am!" Illyana stripped to her underwear. Rahne turned away. She felt Illyana get in behind her. The blankets were pulled over both of them, Illyana reached around to turn off the light, and then Rahne felt Illyana's arms snake around her midsection. Illyana asked, "Does this bother you?"

"No." It actually felt comfortable. Rahne let her eyes close.

"Rahne?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you say you were my familiar?"

"What? Oh. That's how Lilith Jones said you looked at it."

"Really? Oh. Hmm. Welllll…Depends on who you ask. Belasco would say 'no' because I hadn't claimed and corrupted your soul. But in a broader, more general sense, in that you help and protect a witch, yeah, it works. Kinda."

"'Kinda'?"

"It's called 'magic' and not 'exact science' for a reason. But still, it was a very sweet thing for you to say. Thank you." She gave Rahne a kiss on the cheek.

Rahne patted Illyana's hand. "It's no trouble, Luv. Let's speak no more of it."

"All right." Illyana kissed Rahne's cheek again. And again. And again.

"Illyaaannnnaaaaa."

"What?" Smooch. "I'm not speaking." Smooch. "That's what you said, 'let's speak no more of it.'" Smooch. "And then you called me 'love.'" Smooch smooch. "A couple of times come to think of it."

"That's not what I meant."

"That's not what I heard." Smooooooooooooooch.

Rahne said, "You're drunk."

"So're you." Smooch, smoochsmoochsmooch. "And not putting up a fight." SMOOCH!

"So, two drunk girls who otherwise don't like each other have sex, is that it?"

"Why not?" Smooch. "Oh, I know. It's a sin, I'm a witch, blah, blah, blah. But like you said, I'm drunk. And I'm horny. And I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy about a certain sweet little werewolf I went to school with." Smooch. "Funny—you're the last person I'd ever think I'd be interested in. It's probably the beer. But I still am happy to see you again." (smooch)

"I have missed you, strangely enough," Rahne said. "Didn't think I would. But I went on a date once, after I'd left the team and moved to Genosha." She squirmed around to face Illyana, even as Illyana kept holding her. "He took me to a movie, something with swords and demons, I don't remember what it was. I spent the first five minutes nit-picking it. Then I remembered why I was able to nit-pick it and I started crying my eyes out, just bawling, right there in the middle of the theater. I couldn't stop. I ran out of the theater without explaining. He must have thought I was crazy and never asked me out again." Rahne started sniffling. "And then I started having nightmares that you had come back from the dead get your revenge. You knew I'd talked you into killing yourself not out of some noble purpose but just to get rid of you, get rid of that demon from down the hall." She was crying. "So I—I guess you'll want to kill me now."

"WHAT!?"

Rhane was sobbing. "Go ahead. Summon your sword. Cut me in two. It's what I deserve."

"No, Rahne, I would never-" Illyana broke off, paused for a moment, then went on: "Rahne, listen to me. I'd been living on borrowed time ever since I first came back from Limbo. I knew one day, Belasco would come for me and my bloodstones, and one of us was going to die. And I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want anyone else to die. It's all I thought about every day for a year.

"Then I blundered into a place in the New Mutants, and honestly, Rahne…" Illyana smiled slightly. "…it was the time of my life. Loved every bit of it, even…even this screwed up Scottish girl who kept quoting scriptures at me when she wasn't hogging the shower. I started to forget my troubles. Hell, it seemed like we were unbeatable sometimes. I began to think that when Belasco came back, we would hand him his head. How tough could he be after we went toe-to-toe with the Enchantress?"

"And then N'astirh happened."

"He owned us, Rahne. He was 12 moves ahead of us in three-dimensional chess while we were struggling with Whack-a-Mole. I was out of time and out of options. There was no way I could save Earth *and*and return to it. If I hadn't destroyed myself, I would have been imprisoned with my demons in Limbo for all eternity. Either way, my time with the New Mutants was over." She ran a finger through Rahne's hair. "So don't second-guess yourself, all right? You know we make life-or-death decisions in those fights, and only a fool would think we would always come home alive." She gave Rahne a tender kiss. "I'm not angry at you, so you can stop blaming yourself. Ok?"

"Ok…so, will you want the lights on?"

"For what?"

"You know…what we were talking about before."

"You want to?" Illyana asked, surprised. "Seriously?"

"I know I want to get it over with before it sinks in what a terrible idea it is."

Illyana chuckled. "I can work with that. And no, I don't need the lights. Demonic night vision. You?"

"Werewolf. Same thing."

"Then come here, wolfie…"

8

8

"Who said I was a bathroom hog?" Rahne asked.

"What?" Illyana asked.

"Back in the old days. You said I hogged the shower."

"You were awful! Whoever took a shower after you had no hot water. I eventually parked one of my psychic familiars in the lamp outside the bathroom—he was invisible—but even with his head's up I barely beat you. 'Mistress, the changeling has just left her room.' 'Spawn of the pit!' Run! I swear, you were an even bigger diva than Mara. What were you doing, washing your pelt one hair at a time?"

"You're lying."

"Hmmm. Maybe this was a bad idea."

Rahne giggled. "Should have thought of that before, Luv!"


	5. Chapter 5

Rahne's phone woke them up. Rahne reached out of the tangle of her and Illyana's naked bodies and turned the light on. It was 5:00 AM, but she saw it was Douglas Greer's number.

Rahne answered. "Doug?"

"I'm sorry," Doug said. "Did I wake you?"

"You know you bloody well did." On top of that, she had a hangover, but she decided to leave that out. "Do you know what time it is?"

"I'm sorry. I spent the night negotiating with some members of the local coven who are still speaking with me. They agreed to meet."

"When?"

"Um, can I talk to…Magik?"

"Hold on a minute." Rahne put her hand over the phone and turned to Illyana. "It's the Reverend Greer. He wants to talk to you."

"Gimmee phone."

Rahne spoke into it. "Here she is, Doug." She handed Illyana the phone.

The sorceress got out of bed. "Stay in human form—you can't listen in." She crossed the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"Yes, O Great Darkchilde," Rahne muttered sarcastically. She rubbed her face. "Rahne Sinclair, what the hell is the matter with you? Can you for once in your life have a fling with someone who can't mess up your life? Or your afterlife?" She sank back under the covers.

Illyana came out of the bathroom, dropped Rhane's phone on the bed, and started to get dressed. "Greer is on his way over. Some of the members of the local coven have agreed to meet with me alone."

"And exactly where is this meeting?"

"I don't know, and Greer has been sworn not to tell me. I'm going to be blindfolded the whole way."

"I don't like the sound of that. I should follow-"

"No."

Rahne got her back up. "No!? Is that how it is with demons—one night and they can order you around?"

Illyana's anger flashed. "If that were true, you'd be incapable of arguing with me." She softened and sat on the bed next her lover. "This group is a little skittish. They barely talk to Greer, and they don't like outsiders. If they have any useful information, our best chance for getting it is if I go alone."

"And if the wielder is there, you'll be up shit creak without a paddle."

"I didn't say I liked it, but…" Illyana smiled ruefully. "…this is the hand we've been dealt."

Rahne looked into Illyana's eyes for a moment. Then she said, "I spoke with Sam a while ago. He told me you have this tendency to go off on your own. I'll not be having you ditch me. I want your word as a New Mutant that if you find out who the wielder is, we finish this together."

"You have it, sweetie," Illyana said, leaning down. "I wouldn't dream of not having your there for the kill." She gave Rahne a kiss. "I have to finish getting ready. Greer will be here any minute." She got out of bed and started putting the rest of her clothes on.

"And, um, on a related point," Rahne said, "just to be clear, my soul isn't…I didn't accidentally agree to, uh…"

"Don't worry, Rahne. Other than some love bites, your soul is where I found it and in original condition."

"Wait—love bites? On my soul?"

Dressed and with her shoes on, Illyana went back to sit on the edge of the bed. "No biggie. They'll fade in a couple of days just like physical ones. Don't talk to Doctor Strange in the mean time if you want him to think you're respectable." They kissed. "Wait for me, all right? This shouldn't take more than a couple of hours, three at the outside."

"All right…but if I don't hear from you by then, I'm going to go looking."

"Fair enough."

8

8

"How much longer?" Sitting in the passenger seat of Greer's pickup truck, blindfolded, Illyana gave up trying to hide her annoyance. "I know we're outside of town and off the main roads even if I can't see anything."

"As I told you, the coven members we're speaking to don't want anyone in town to know who they are," Greer said, "so this is going to be a little out-of-the way." He paused. "Mind if I ask you something? When I called, I noticed you got on the phone rather quickly. Were you and Rahne…together?"

Illyana didn't answer.

"I understand," Greer said. "And I'm not surprised. I have the impression she would follow you to the ends of the Earth."

Illyana chuckled.

"What's so funny? I gather you were best friends in your old team."

"Hardly." She paused and went on. "Rahne and I never clicked. Her favorite pet name for me was 'Witch' and she liked that quote 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.'"

"Exodus 22:18."

"That's the-" The truck made a turn and the ride got bumpier. "That's the one."

"We're almost there. But to your point, I understand. I mean, look at it from her side: a fundamentalist Christian upbringing, taught that Bible is literally true, with a good amount of fire and brimstone mixed into the sermons—after all that, a witch would be the absolute worst thing in existence. And then—pow, a real witch living under the same roof. That must have been every nightmare she'd ever had come to life.

"But then I can see your side of things: growing up with knowledge, with power that no one around us could understand. Having to lie to our own friends and family, all because of how this culture views us-"

"That's not entirely undeserved, Reverend. Not where demon sorcerers are concerned."

"But we're still people, not stereotypes. Even demons are individuals. Or am I wrong?"

"Not entirely. Are we really going to a coven? Or is this how you pick up women? I wouldn't mind playing along if I wasn't on a clock here."

The truck stopped. "Don't take your blindfold off yet."

He came around to the passenger side and helped her out. He guided her a few paces and stopped her. "Ok, Illyana, you can take your blindfold off."

Illyana pulled the blindfold off. They were at the end of a dirt road, in a clearing maybe 300 feet wide, the circle of trees around them broken only by the access road. And in the middle of the clearing, in the center of a circle of dirt, was a pile of logs with a twenty-foot poll sticking up through the middle of it.

She heard Greer's voice from behind her: "Of course, as you know, it is the only way to make sure you are completely destroyed."

Illyana turned to see Greer with the Wings of Needless Sorrow hanging from a chain around his neck. A small avatar flew out of it and disappeared into her chest. Illyana shook herself and summoned her soulsword. She charged at him, but a flaming sword appeared in his hand and he deflected her slash.

They circled each other. Illyana grinned wolfishly. "So you're not as weak as you let on. So much the better; I was beginning to think this job would be boring."

"I had to hide my power to live in this community; not everyone wants to run off and play teenage superhero. And it was lucky I did that because that's why the Empirikul missed me."

"I should thank them; they left you for me!"

She charged, but he dodged her slash as if she was standing still while three more avatars flew out of the medallion. She slashed one with the sword, but the other two flew into her body, one from in front and one from behind. And with them the black pit of pain she was feeling inside grew.

Greer said, "Let's talk about you, about the pain you're feeling, the way you're suffering."

"Shut up!" She swung, but he easily dodged and kicked her in the ribs as another avatar flew from the medallion and went into Illyana's back. She staggered and then pressed her attack. But her heart was no longer in it and her attacks were getting steadily weaker. Greer, for his part, blocked and avoided her attacks as if she was standing still.

"I feel sorry for you, I do," Greer said casually. "Your soul was damned with the creation of the first bloodstone, but it had nothing to do with anything you had done. That's just what you're stuck with. That's not fair, is it? But there's nothing you can do. And what about the living realms? I'm sure your demon servants would prefer a more…pedestrian demon lord who could properly supervise Limbo, but you're not inclined do that. You're an absentee ruler at best. I mean, I know they're demons, but you're a demon lady. Are you really being fare to your subjects?"

Greer's words resonated with Illyana. But she wouldn't let him see it. "Will you stop talking?" she growled as she slashed at him and he avoided it.

"And your human friends and family," Greer went on. "You're their Amy Winehouse. You're an accident waiting to happen. No matter how many superhero fights you join them in, you will never really be part of them."

"BE QUIET!"

"Am I lying? The Wings aren't inventing any of this. This is the truth of your existence. Running around in spandex and defeating this week's villain doesn't change that. All the wings and I are doing are stopping you from denying it. And Rahne…"

"What about Rahne!?"

"I'm sure she loves you, but you are still a living contradiction of her faith. You can never be an ideal partner for her. She needs someone who shares her beliefs and also appreciates how her powers can affect her life. Someone who can show her how to use her gifts to do God's will. Someone…like…me."

"You!?"

"She'll be upset at first, but we got along well when we first met. I'm sure I can bring her around, and in time she'll forget she ever-"

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Illyana rode the anger and charged, attacking as hard as she could. She finally knocked his sword out of his hand and kicked him in the chest, knocking him down. Then she held the soulsword over her own head. She and her blade blazed with light; dark energy surged out of her body and vanished. The light faded. Illyana staggered from the effort and was breathing hard, but she trained her sword on Greer.

"Impressive," Greer said as he got to his feet, "but, ah…" He pointed up.

Illyana reluctantly looked up and gasped at the sight of hundreds of avatars circling above them. One of them fired an eye blast that knocked the soulsword from her hand; it and her armor vanished. Then all of the avatars swooped down and vanished into her body.

"No, no…" She tried to resist, but the tears started and wouldn't stop. She fell to all fours, sobbing.

Greer crossed to her. "Poor suffering creature." He tugged on her elbow and got her to her feet. He wiped her tears. "Isn't it time to end this? Isn't it past time we freed the people you love from waiting for your inevitable self-destruction, so they can move on? Don't want to end their suffering…and yours?"

"Yes," Illyana choked. "I do." She turned and looked at the stake and the wood piled around it.

8

8

"Have you done this before?" Illyana asked calmly. She was chained to the stake with her hands handcuffed behind her. "You seem to have this down to a science. Does that coven really still exist?"

Dressed in a silver fire retardant suit, Greer came back from his truck with a can of gasoline. "I only took out their strongest members because I wanted them to stay out of my way. They got the message."

"And being the mage who took out the darkchilde will only enhance your rep," she said matter-of-factly.

"I care not for accolades on this world or any other. I'm only doing this to help the people of this community.

"I won't insult your intelligence by asking if you want me to perform the last rites. But if you have any messages for your friends and family, I will relay them."

"When you see Rahne, tell her I really loved her."

8

8

Rahne stepped out of the shower in the hotel bathroom, tied the towel around her, crossed to the sink, and wiped the moisture that had accumulated on the mirror.

A goat skull where her reflection should have been stared back at her.

"Jesus!" Rahne jumped.

"It's all right, it's all right! It's me," a familiar voice said from the skull.

"Lilith!? What are you doing, girl? You scared me half to death."

"It can't be helped. There aren't many ways for a demon to pierce the veil without scaring a mortal. In fact, that's kind of the point. Is Magik around?"

"Can't you see she is not?"

"Not really. Someone is really 'jamming the frequencies,' as it were, so it's a lot harder than normal. But I managed to lock onto Illyana's, um, 'energy signature,' and I can't see why-" Lilith broke off; the skull moved, appearing to peer at Rahne. "Oh. Oh, my. I see. Well…well I guess that's one way to take my advice-"

"I know, love bites on my soul."

"'Love bites'? Yes, I suppose that's as good an analogy as any." The skull tilted to an odd angle. "And quite a few of them, too. And that one by your third chakra looks like-"

"Lilith. Could we please stop talking about my love life—which I will be the first to admit is seriously messed up by any standard—and return to the matter at hand? We're agreed that you and Satan weren't the ones with the Wings of Needless Sorrow. And we think the real bad guy used them to get rid of you."

"That makes sense. Satan and I were making dinner and we had a disagreement about who would do the dishes—his turn, by the way-" the skull paused for a moment, then turned away "-yes, it was! Will you shut up? I'm talking to Rahne—" The skull turned back. "—sorry-anyway, it went totally out of control. We realized what was happening in time and threw up wards to contain the blast and make sure the town wasn't incinerated, but…well, let's just say our time in that town is over."

"Do you know who it was?"

"No, as I said, the frequencies are being jammed. I can barely talk to you right now."

"Then let's compare notes. Did anything happen yesterday? Anything at all? Did you talk to anyone? Please, Lilith! The smallest thing can be incredibly important."

"Well, Reverend Greer stopped by. I remember it because he was surprisingly friendly."

"Greer? What did he want?"

"He wanted to talk to you. He said it was important and he had to see you in person. I told him which way you had been headed and he said he would try to catch you."

Rahne looked away for a moment. Realization dawned and seemed to hit her physically. "Oh, my…Holy Mother of God! Rahne Sinclair, have you been out of circulation so long you're making rookie mistakes? Or were you so cocky you thought no one could get the drop on you? Charmed by the villain your first night in town! The New X-Men wouldn't have screwed up that bad!"

"What are you talking about?" Lilith asked.

"It's Greer!" Rahne cried. "It's been Greer all along. Illyana said you and Satan were masking your power; he must have done the same if he's strong enough to use the Wings. But he's been the one behind everything-" She broke off and went ashen. "And Illyana left with him almost an hour ago."

8

8

Reverend Douglas Greer stood by Illyana Rasputin's funeral pyre, watching as the flames that had killed her reached up into the morning sky.

"One down," he muttered. "One to go."


	6. Chapter 6

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_** _My computer literally has a screw loose. So, I decided to upload this chapter before taking it to the nearest Staples. So, any (more) typos and booboos won't be fixed for a couple of days. Anyway, when we last left our heroine…_

8

8

Rahne sat on the bed and used her shoulder to press her phone to her ear as she finished tying her shoe. "Damn it! Voice mail again. Might as…Illyana, disc out of there and call me!" Both shoes on, she hung up and turned to the mirror above the dresser, where Lilith's skull was floating in the image. "Lilith, can you do any—" The phone chimed. Rahne opened a new text message. "Directions. 'Explain when I see you.'" She turned back to the mirror. "Anything?"

The goat skull swiveled in a quick head shake. "It's all fog from this side. I can't even hold the connection to you much longer. Are you going?"

"Pretty much have to at this stage."

"Be careful. I like you, Rahne. I don't want to meet you on this side just yet." The skull vanished.

"I think we're way past careful." Rahne left the hotel room.

8

8

Rahne couldn't avoid feeling alarmed at the sight of smoke above the tree line down the lonely, two-lane road, and it was becoming more and more apparent that it had something to do with the dirt road she was about to turn on to.

…and then just as she got to the intersection, a stepping circle appeared on the road in front of her, and S'Ym and N'astirh were right in front of her.

Rahne brought her bike to a halt. "What are you two doing here?"

S'Ym looked towards the dirt road. "S'Ym is a demon," he said, sounding unusually sullen. "Still, S'Ym had respect for her. She deserved better than that." He turned to Rahne. "S'Ym was always secretly glad she had the companions she did."

"Farewell, Wolfsbane," N'astirh said. Then both demons vanished with another stepping disk.

Rahne gawked at the space where they had been standing, then down the dirt road, and the smoke rising above the trees. No. They couldn't have meant… Rahne didn't want to go there, couldn't conceive of being there, of being back in a world without…without…

She revved the bike and headed down the dirt road.

As she entered the clearing, the sight of the fire, the post in the middle of it, and what was hanging from the post…

"No!" She stopped the bike and practically jumped off it as tears burned down her cheeks. It couldn't be true. S'Ym and N'astirh had to be wrong. Or lying. Or in on it. Anything. Anything other than the awful possibility that it was Illyana's corpse burning in front of her. The witch had to be faking it, that was it, she had to be…had…to…

"No, not again," she managed. "You're trying to fool him, you have to be, you….ILLYANA!" An inarticulate cry became a howl as she became half-wolf. Then she shifted back to human as she fell to her knees and sobbed.

And then something began to build under the sadness and shock and burst through to the surface:

Rage.

"Right. Let's do this." Rahne got to her feet. "Come on, you bastard!" she shouted, turning in a circle. "You wanted me here. Show yourself."

The air rippled near the road and a pickup truck appeared, rolling to a stop at the entrance to the clearing. Greer got out, holding Illyana's phone. Wolf hair spread over Rahne's skin as a growl grew in the pit of her throat.

Greer said, "She was actually quite helpful in the end. Before—oh." He had the same peering look Lilith had had. "That'll make this more difficult. But as I was saying, before I tied her to the stake, she showed me how to unlock her phone. You can guess the-"

"You're lying!" Rahne raged. "You're telling me that she didn't try to split you in two? That she just let you…you…"

"Oh, she did put up a fight. She was magnificent in her way, even beautiful. I can see why you were attracted to her. But she couldn't beat her own demons in the end."

"What, that lot? I met them the day we found out she was a witch. They literally go all to pieces if you breathe on them."

"I meant her emotional troubles. She was a mess! It was almost too easy. Would it surprise you to know she had a death wish? I'll bet a lot of things are starting to make sense now. She got in all those fights because she was looking to die. What would you call that, death by supervillain? All the wings and I did was convince her to cut out the middle man. Don't worry. She didn't suffer long. Just a few minutes; she never cried out. Oh, and she had a message: she wanted you to know she really loved you." He chuckled. "As if a creature like that could really know what love is."

"On her worst day she was better than you could hope to be on your best!" Rahne spat. "I should have known. My own father wouldn't acknowledge me because he didn't want his congregation to know that their pious priest had banged a prostitute. I shouldn't be surprised to meet another man of God tempted by Earthly powers. Illyana may have been a devil, but at least she was up front about what she was. Not a hypocrite like you!"

"You don't understand. I'm doing God's work."

"What, killing witches? I can get behind that, no problem!" Rahne charged, going full wolf in a handful of steps. She saw energy crackling around Greer's hands and zig-zagged, dodging his mystic bolts. He put his arm up to defend himself and she bit as hard as she could. But a flash of energy and she was sent tumbling off him. Then an avatar flew out of the medallion. Rahne turned to run, but the avatar caught up to her and vanished into her body. She yelped and ran for the tree line.

Eldritch flames ignited on Greer's arm, healing the wounds from Rahne's bite. The flames went out and he walked along the tree line, his hands glowing.

"Rahne," he called. "I know what you're feeling right now."

"Bad move, Reverend," Rahne's bestial voice growled back. "The last thing you want is a suicidal enemy."

Greer couldn't tell where Rahne's voice was coming from, so he kept looking back and forth. "Yes, wanting to take me with you if it means you follow your new love into the afterlife. If it wasn't steeped in a host of sins, it would be romantic. But Rahne, Illyana was always lost. Just by being what she was, she could never have been redeemed, never known God's forgiveness. Have you read about the darkchilde at all? Do you know what she was? The harbinger of the end of the world. A walking talking weapon of mass destruction. And already damned no matter how many cats she got out of trees with her stepping disks."

"You're trying to turn me against her on religious grounds? I worked through all those issues years ago. Aye, she was evil, but we saved each other's lives over and over again when most teenage girls were wondering what shoes to wear to a dance. Don't you be disrespecting her; you're not fit to shine her armor. And don't talk about God's love when you use black magic to enrich yourself!"

"I'm not doing it for me."

"Oh, no? All those television interviews? Plus Facebook Lives and who knows how many followers on Twitter now? Who is benefitting then?"

"This community has real problems, Rahne!" Greer shouted, his patience fraying. "Drugs, alcoholism, unemployment—those problems have always been there. But trying to get help from the state and federal governments was like trying to draw blood from a stone. I couldn't do anything about it. And then the Lord led me to the Wings of Needless Sorrow and I knew, I knew I could use my skills to make a difference."

"By driving your friends and neighbors to kill themselves or commit other pointless crimes? You're insane!"

"I am a sinner, Rahne," Greer said. "I don't deny the crimes I have committed for the greater good. I will pay for those sins when I stand before the Lord, but I will do so gladly knowing that those tragedies were not in vain. I had to make things just bad enough that it would get national attention, that it couldn't be ignored anymore. And it worked. Politicians are lining up to show they are doing good here; money has already started rolling in."

"Until we showed up and spoiled your party," Rahne said.

"I was worried about super people showing up. But if they're all as mixed up as you and Illyana, I shouldn't have any problem."

"They've taken down the likes of Thanos, you wanker. How long do you think you can hold out?"

"However long God wants me to. And you can stand with me, Rahne. I can withdraw the avatar. Be honest with me. Have you ever really felt comfortable with the X-People? How many of them shared your beliefs? Few if any I'd wager. And even then, you don't really make a difference in the world, do you? Not in building a better community. And you can be a part of that, Rahne." He smiled and the glow from his hands faded. "Join me. Help make a real difference."

"Sorry…but I'm feeling romantic!" Rahne's wolfen form burst from the brush. An energy blast knocked her aside. She picked herself up and charged again. He fired again. Rahne flew twenty feet, landing with a thud and changing back to human.

"I've had enough of this." He raised both hands. In response, rock and earth rose out of the ground, congealing into a crucifix that Rahne found herself bound to. Hands grew out of the crucifix next to her head and held her head still, exposing her neck. She struggled but couldn't break free.

"And no," Greer said as his flaming sword appeared in his hand, "the spell prevents you from changing." He crossed to her. "Last chance, Rahne."

Rahne spat in his face.

He wiped the spit from his face. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but I can't let you stop me." He wound up, aiming his blade at her neck. "May God have mercy on your—"

A stepping disk appeared in the air next to his head, and an armored cloven foot shot out, kicking him on the head. As Greer staggered away, the foot was followed by the armored and very unsinged form of Illyana Rasputin, fully armored with cloven feet, horns, and a tail. As Greer stumbled back, Illyana stabbed Rahne with the soulsword. Black energy erupted from Rahne's body and vanished as the crucifix crumbled. Illyana pulled the sword out, no wound left in Rhane's body as the blade had been used for another exorcism. Rahne shifted to half wolf.

Rahne looked at the pyre. The fire was still burning, but there was no body tied to the stake. Greer regained his footing and also gawked at the flames.

Rahne said, "Oh, so you were fooling him. I was hoping you were. Nicely done. But I think I owe you a punch on the nose for the way you-"

Greer charged at Illyana. As Rahne ran out of the way, Greer and Illyana traded blows, then locked swords. Illlyana said, "I don't think our friend is that appreciative!"

"Well, you did cut it a bit close for my taste," Rahne said as she charged. She slashed Greer's back. Greer cried out. Dark energy flashed out of his medallion; Illyana was pushed back. Two avatars flew out of the medallion, one headed for Illyana and one for Rhane. Flames shot out of the soulsword and incinerated both avatars.

Illyana saw a glow building in the medallion. "Rahne! Over here!"

Rahne ran to Illyana's side as more avatars burst out of the medallion. Illyana raised her free hand and her lips moved; a dome of milky, translucent energy appeared over them.

"Wards," Rahne said, as the avatars circled the dome, firing eye blasts at it. Flames flashed on Greer's back, healing his wounds.

"Simple but effective," Illyana said.

"So," Rahne said, "are you going to answer my question?"

"What question?"

"Why did you cut it so close? No pun intended."

"Timing is everything in these fights. You know that. Besides, I needed a potty break."

"Are you serious? Since when have you ever needed a potty break? When we took on the demon bear, you had three super-sized drinks at the hospital. Never a word of complaint."

"Well, I guess the human parts of my soul took my bladder capacity with them."

"I guess—oh! Speaking of things demonic, there's something I've always wanted to ask you and I always forgot. Your hooves. Are they like high heels?" Rahne rocked up onto her toes and back. "Because you're basically like this all the time, right? I guess as a shape changer myself I've always wondered, from a professional standpoint, with all these odd cramps I get."

Illyana looked down at her feet. "You know, that's a good question. I've never really thought-"

Standing outside the dome, Greer gawked at the two women. "What is wrong with you two?"

Rahne said, "Do you not know anything? For us, this is therapy."

Illyana said, "He is new."

"I know," Rahne affirmed. "Were we ever that green?"

"I wasn't."

"I'm calling bullshit, Illyana."

"Rahne, how many people had you killed before you turned 12?"

"So you had the most messed up childhood in history. I will not count that as superhero team experience. Especially as there's at least one timeline in Limbo where it never happened."

"That's a really fine hair to split."

"Sue me."

Greer didn't hide his exasperation. He said, "Do you two want me to leave for a while? Maybe I should get us breakfast at a drive-thru and come back?"

Rahne said, "Oh, will you please? I haven't eaten yet and I'm feeling a bit peckish. Milk and two sugars for me. And don't worry—Illyana has a corporate credit card, so she'll reimburse you."

"I will?" Illyana asked.

Rahne said, "Oh, after last night, you are most definitely buying me-"

Greer roared and slashed the wards with his sword.

Illyana and Rahne were plus plus nonplussed.

Rahne said, "I've heard of wanting attention, but this is ridiculous."

"Actually, after I came back, Scott got a hold of a study by SHIELD of supervillain psychology. That's not too far from the truth."

"I'm not surprised," Rahne lamented. "I sure know how to pick 'em."

Illyana smiled slightly. "Hey, you picked me, didn't you?"

Rahne smiled back. "To be honest, jury's still out on that one. But I am feeling really hungry. Shall we wrap this up and you can buy us some breakfast, Luv?"

"Yeah, it took me a while, but I've finally got his number. Unless you want another crack at him?"

"No, I'm good."

"Ok." She turned to Greer. "Doug."

Greer stopped slashing the wards and glared back.

Illyana said, "Doug, it's been fun and all, but the fact is you are going to get your ass kicked. The only issue now is how badly. If you surrender now, we'll call the Avengers and SHIELD and you can turn yourself in. Or you can not surrender, and things will be…worse. Way worse."

Rahne put in, "And she's not kidding when she says 'worse,' although I wouldn't be sorry."

Greer raised his sword. "I think you two fear me. You're afraid of my power and trying talk your way out of being destroyed. No deals. So come on! Give it your best shot, darkchilde."

Illyana shrugged. "As you wish, Doug, but never say I didn't give you a chance."

A huge stepping circle appeared under them, and then all three of them were in Limbo, in the center of a stone circle on a desert plane.

Greer charged. He and Illyana traded blows. Then then Illyana's sword crashed into his weapon extra hard. Greer's weapon vanished in a flash of flame and he flew backwards and slammed into one of the standing stones.

Illyana said, "Let me guess—you forgot some of the things your aunt taught you."

Greer shook himself and straightened. An avatar flew out of the medallion. It stopped short of Magik, hovering in front of her. The avatar and the sorceress seemed to be having a staring contest. Then the avatar vanished. Illyana extended her free hand. Greer felt the chain snap as the Wings of Needless Sorrow medallion flew to Illyana's hand.

Illyana tucked the medallion into her armor's belt and her soulsword vanished, though she remained an armored demon. "Home court advantage, bitch," she said as she crossed to Greer. She grabbed his collar and shoved him against the standing stone.

Greer looked at a point past her head. "Lord Jesus save me!"

"Oh, please," Illyana said. "Even if your god had power here, do you think he wouldn't mind letting you get roughed up after all you've-" She turned at lumbering footsteps. S'Ym and N'astirh entered the circle.

S'Ym gawked, "Boss? It's really you?"

"Yup." She looked at Rahne and gave a slight nod.

Rahne said, "C'mon, boys. Let's take a walk." They turned and left the circle.

Greer grinned. "Getting rid of witnesses, Magik? You think you can get away with killing me?"

"I'm not going to kill you, Doug. My prospective employer doesn't want me to leave a trail of bodies, and besides, I have no reason to be that nice to you. But I do owe you something. You almost took me out. That deserves some recognition. So I'm going to show you something no one, not even my master, Belasco, has seen. I'm going to show you the true face the of the darkchilde."

8

8

"C'mon, boys," Rahne said. "Let's take a walk." She turned and left the circle.

She heard the demons lumber behind her.

S'Ym said, "Is that her? Really her?"

"Yup," Rahne said, "it's really really her."

N'astirh puzzled, "But how did she do it? Because I felt her die."

"No idea," Rahne said, "though I expect-"

Greer's blood-curdling scream interrupted her. Then they heard Illyana's voice: "Rahne! Time to get out of here."

Rahne ran back into the circle. The demons heard Rahne's voice: "What happened to him?"

"I showed him something he wasn't ready for," Illyana answered. "Any preference for breakfast?"

"I rather liked that diner where we ate last night."

"Works for me. S'Ym! N'astirh! Behave." A flash from the light of a stepping disk and then nothing.

S'Ym said, "S'Ym admits it. He did complain it was getting too boring around here."


	7. Chapter 7

Shan stood at the window in the conference room, looking out at the New York skyline. Illyana and Rahne (both in human form) sat at the table.

Shan said, "I'm not happy with this situation, Illyana."

"You didn't send me to make you happy," Illyana said. "You wanted me to find out if something paranormal was going on there and there was. The Wings of Needless Sorrow are back at Doctor Strange's, locked up under wards even I can't get through. And the wielder has been identified and locked up."

Shan turned around. "Yes, locked up in a mental hospital where he has to be restrained from clawing his own eyes out. What's your answer to that?"

"You didn't want a trail of dead bodies. His body is not dead."

"And on your say-so, Hatchi Corporation has made donations to local drug treatment programs."

"Good press for your company, Shan."

"I'm glad Belasco taught you public relations, Illyana."

"He didn't."

"My point exactly." Shan crossed to the table and leaned on it. "Then again, I haven't been out of the field so long that I forgot things can go sideways more often than not." Her eyes shifted to Rahne. "And you managed an…unexpected resource." She straightened up. "All right. I'm calling this a successful audition." She walked around the table. "You've got the job."

Illyana stood and they shook hands. Illyana said, "You won't regret it."

"We'll see." They released hands. "For now," Shan said, "the question is who's going to be added to the team. Any thoughts on that, Rahne?"

Rahne stood. "Can I have the night to think about it, Shan?"

"Take all the time you want, Rahne."

"Ok. Oh, Illyana, could you come here for a sec?"

The witch crossed to the werewolf. "What is it?"

Rahne's fist slammed into Illyana's jaw. Illyana staggered back.

Rahne said, "We understand each other?"

Illyana nodded.

Rahne nodded to Shan and left.

Illyana rubbed her jaw. "I think if she joins up, we'll have to check her strength level. I think her human form has leveled up a bit."

"Oh, you think so, do you?"

"Sorry…boss. What do you think?"

Shan grinned. "I think you just found your second-in-command."

Illyana rubbed her jaw. "Yeah, I suppose so. Meanwhile, why don't you tell me what this is really all about?"

Shan walked past Illyana, closed the door to the conference room, and turned to face her old teammate. "You could say it's a family matter…"

8

8

Rahne leaned against the window of her small apartment with her phone to her ear, listening to Dani Moonstar's voicemail greeting. She had asked around and no one had seen or heard from Dani for a couple of months, and that was on top of the soured relationships with Rahne. Still, Rahne felt she had to try to reach out. She had no problem with Illyana being team leader…in principle. But the unexpected turn in their relationship made being on Illyana's team problematic, and she felt she needed her old friend's advice before making her final decision.

At the beep, Rahne said, "Hi, Dani, it's me. I know it's been a while and I understand if you want to avoid me. But I could really use your input on something. Call me back." She hung up. "Or I'll just have to make up my own mind for one. And it's not like I've never done anything else I regret later."

A voice sounded from her bathroom. "Rahne?"

"Huh?"

Rahne entered the bathroom. She turned on the light and saw a goat skull floating in the mirror.

Rahne said, "Lilith?"

"Hi, Rahne," the demon said. "I just wanted to contact you one more time to say goodbye."

"You're not, uh, coming back?"

"Well, after being burned to a crisp, it's kind of hard to reestablish yourself. We really liked that town. But Satan and I found a pocket dimension a settled down in our own cozy dominion. We might have you and your friends over someday for a barbecue…or a fight. Either would be fun."

"Eh…I appreciate the sentiment. It was nice knowing you."

"Nice knowing you. And about the darkchilde…"

"My destiny lies with Illyana?"

"I wouldn't be that strong, but your life paths keep crossing. You may want to walk with her for a while. See what happens."

"I'll think about it, Lilith. 'Bye now."

"Goodbye, Rahne." The skull vanished.

8

8

Rahne finally made her decision as she ate breakfast the next morning. After she'd put her dishes away, she called Illyana and got voice mail. "Hey, Lass—call me." She hung up. She sat on a stool. A light circle appeared on the kitchen floor next to her.

"Guess she wants face time." Rahne hopped onto the circle. She landed in Limbo next to a queen size bed in the middle of castle courtyard, surrounded by burning torches.

Illyana was there in a black and red negligee. She snapped her fingers. Silver flames flashed around Rahne and her clothes were replaced by a strapless leather top, a matching sarong, and a collar around her neck.

Rahne's finger tugged a ring on the collar. "Cute. Is there a point to this?"

"Call it an in-joke." Illyana pushed Rahne onto the bed.

Rahne looked up into Illyana's eyes. "I'm not your property, Illyana."

Illyana smiled. "And I'm not entirely human. I'm even less human now than I was in the old days. I will never be…your ideal love. I can't be who you are. Can you accept me as I am?"

"I can try, as long as you respect me."

Illyana smiled. "Not a problem." And the witch kissed the werewolf.

8

8

Lying naked in Illyana's arms, Rahne chuckled.

"What?" the naked sorceress asked as she played with Rahne's hair.

"Something you said," Rahne said. "You were right. It's so easy to take this crazy life for granted. Think about back when we were at Xavier's. If any teenage girl other than me had said, 'Oh, that girl down the hall is a demon and I'm afraid she wants to eat my soul,' she would have been put on medication straight away. But that was my schoolmate."

"Eating your soul? You've known me for how long? I'm going to have to up my game."

"Point is, it's too easy to take all this for granted, and I shouldn't. I should be grateful for everything and everyone in this life…even the things that can still make my skin crawl. And if I'm making the biggest mistake of my life, I should at least enjoy it's a mistake no one else can make." She kissed Illyana.

"So…is this your needlessly emotional and long-winded way of saying you're joining the team?"

"'And Ruth said, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go."' I had to lose you once to realize how much you meant to me. I'm not going to let you go again, not without a say in the matter. If you lead the team, I'll follow you."

"In that case…" Illyana held her hand out. A stepping disk appeared above it and a folder fell onto her hand. The disk vanished, and she handed the folder to Rahne. "Some prospective candidates. If we can get them, your being onboard will make managing them easier."

Rahne flipped through the folder. "Are you serious? I'm beginning to wonder if how accidental any of this was."

"Pretty accidental, although I know you well enough to have been cautiously optimistic."

"You and me, Illyana, being together…that could make this awkward."

"Only if you make this awkward, Rahne…and I'll be counting on you to say so if it is. I need you to be you and be what I can't."

"The team's moral compass."

"Yes. And by the way, if I'd claimed your soul, it would be impossible for you to do that. So put your mind at ease about being my 'property.'"

"I see. And if you didn't need me to be a moral compass?"

"I still wouldn't because I love you just the way you are." She caressed Rahne's cheek and her voice softened: "It was so strange after I came back. You weren't there to quote scriptures at me, and no one would tell me what had happened. It didn't feel…complete. I wish I could bring everyone together, but if I have to choose, I'll start with you."

"Oh, shut up, you silly succubus."

They kissed again, and then Rahne said, "One more thing: next time you attract the attention of some lunatic who has a mind to burn you at the stake, don't you dare leave me behind. My life stopped being safe the day my father led a mob to kill me, and I won't have you treating me like a china doll. None of this 'Stay here where you'll be safe' crap. Or I'll be the one bringing the lighter fluid and the marshmallows. You understand me?"

Illyana smiled. "Perfectly. Welcome back to the New Mutants, Rahne Sinclair."

 _"_ _When my time comes,  
Forget the wrong that I've done  
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.  
Don't resent me,  
And when you're feeling empty,  
Keep me in your memory,  
Leave out all the rest"_

-Linkin Park, "Leave Out All the Rest"

THE BEGINNING


End file.
